Land, Crime, and Constitutions: Politicization of Law in Kazakhstan

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Drawing on the fresh field research in Kazakhstan and interdisciplinary approaches, this panel explores the important yet understudied topic - interplay between law and politics in modern Kazakhstan through the three perspectives of: 1) high-level politics, 2) street-level bureaucratic enforcement of criminal law and land regulations, and 3) disputing behavior between ordinary citizens and municipalities over land. Panel papers address the global conversation about constraints on the executive power, rights revolutions and politicization of law as told by the leaders and ordinary people.

Sub Unit

• Politics/Law

Chair

• Mikhail Zherebtsov, Carleton U (Canada)

Papers

• Captured Courts and Legitimized Autocrats: Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council - Nora Webb Williams, U of Washington

• Assessing Kazakhstan’s Criminal Justice Reforms - Alexei Trochev, Nazarbayev U (Kazakhstan)

• Going to Court against the Regime: Citizen-State Disputes in Kazakhstan - Margaret Hanson, Ohio State U

Discussant

• Mikhail Zherebtsov, Carleton U (Canada)